Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
by Blondie B. Happy
Summary: Flames ignite when their lips touch, once, twice, so many times that the Mockingjay can't count. The Boy with the Bread wraps her in love with loving arms. All she wants is to be left alone with him, and maybe they can just dance together like the room is burning and they're immune to the fire.


**This story is based off of a song by one of my favorite male singers, John Mayer. WARNING: Typos, OOCness, Fluffiness, Post Mockingjay (That means peopel are dead). KatnissXPeeta. Enjoy!**

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_We're going down,  
And you can see it too.  
We're going down,  
And you know that we're doomed.  
My dear,  
We're slow dancing in a burning room._

_~Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, John Mayer~_

"Take my hand," said the Boy with the Bread. "Don't be afraid."

Sometimes, you just can't not be afraid of something. Katniss never enjoyed dancing, alone or with a group of people. The Girl on Fire, however may happy and beautiful she might have seemed to people, was a shy girl with somewhat of a dark side.

Of course, Peeta made her forget about everyone else. With his easy smile and bright blue eyes, he was the most welcoming and trustworthy face she knew. She loved him with everything that she had, and sometimes Katniss believed that it wasn't enough. She would never be able to be as good to him as he was to her.

Katniss liked to believe that she was brave. After surviving a full out war and two different occasions in the Hunger Games, nothing big scared her. It was the little things that did; conversations, taking walks, alone time, and at the current moment, _dancing._

"Easy for you to say," Katniss murmured. She wrapped her arms around her herself like she was cold even though the room was burning up with all of the other people in too close proximity. Katniss had a bit of claustrophobia. "No one will judge you."

Peeta laughed quietly, and Katniss studied the uneven rise and fall of his shoulders. He put his arm around her waist and squeezed her side. "Please. Everyone will judge be, but I don't care what they think, and you shouldn't either."

Katniss rolled her eyes at him, and he cupped her cheek gently. "Come on," he urged.

"This is our _wedding_, Peeta," she informed him, as if he didn't know that already.

"Your point?" he asked as he led her over to the floor, away from the wall where they had been standing. "I mean, I know that, so it's even a bigger reason why you should just trust me and let yourself go."

But she looked around at everyone. Haymitch, Effie and her mother were talking, neighbors and childhood people that she had gone to school with were there. Johanna and Annie smiled at her. But there was so much missing.

If anything, this should've been the happiest day of her life. Instead, she only felt sorrow for those who weren't there. Finnick should've been next to Annie. Madge and Cinna should have been there. Prim and Rue should've been with her mother and Haymitch and Effie. And so many other faces came into her mind that weren't there. Her father should've been there to walk her down the aisle.

She certainly didn't feel like any Girl on Fire. She didn't even feel like Katniss Everdeen, or now, Katniss Mellark.

Katniss thought about earlier that day and the entire wedding. She had woken up that morning in Peeta's arms and sick to her stomach. She'd given him and kiss on the cheek and then left their house in District Twelve to where Johanna and her mother were staying.

After talking to them for a little while, they'd helped her get dressed into her underclothes and a robe. Later on, her old prep team of Octavia, Flavius, and Venia had arrived at the small house with her wedding dress and more make up than she had seen in years. At 25, she felt like she had done more than most others would do in their entire lives. But the last time she had put on anything fancy had been when she was at the Capitol, years ago.

So then she had sat down and let them do her hair and make up. They'd used very light tones, little bits of blush across her nose and cheek bones. They used eyeliner like kohl and very subtle red lipstick. They worked the most on her long hair, putting it into hundreds of little braids and then tying it up in a bun at the top of her head.

She had died a little inside at the sight of her wedding dress. It was amazing how something so plain could be so beautiful at the same time. It had a long train that would be hard to walk in, and it was a straight skirt. It synched at the waist with a tie made of pearls and was strapless at the top.

The wedding was in the fields surrounding District Twelve, where Katniss had used to run with her father and sneaked across to hunt for game. Chairs were set up for everyone and flowers were everywhere. People from all of the Districts had shown up to see the 'Legendary Star-Crossed Lovers of District Twelve'.

Katniss couldn't even remember anything from the wedding. She remembered glimpses of saying her vows, of watching her bridesmaids stand there and smile, of grinning at the multiple cameras and answering a few questions. But she could clearly remember kissing Peeta and everyone clapping, but the sound had been muffled because she felt like it was only her and Peeta and no one else.

And now, she was scared of a stupid little dance.

Johanna was walking up to them. "Congratulations," she said as she got close, and wrapped her arms around the both them. But as she backed up, she was tugging on Katniss's arm and pulling her away from Peeta. "You don't mind if I steal your wife a second, do you?"

She didn't wait for Peeta's answer. She looped her arm through Katniss's and walked her through the crowd. People tried to stop them, but Johanna was persistent shrugged off and told off anyone that tried to steal her. She brought her to the opening of the tent and outside, where no one else was.

Johanna had been one of Katniss's bridesmaids. She was wearing a green cocktail dress that was just as simple as Katniss's wedding dress. Her hair was spiky and cut short, and when she whirled around to face Katniss, she had her no nonsense expression on.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she barked, gripping her arms and shaking her.

Katniss pushed her away. "Did you bring me out here just so that you could yell at me, because I'm going back inside if that's why?" Katniss glared at Johanna. They were good friends, but they always got into fights. Katniss had no desire to get into a fight after her wedding.

"No, I came to talk some sense into you, because you've clearly lost all of yours and you're acting pitiful."

"Excuse me, I have a husband to get back to," Katniss shot back, turning her back to her friend and attempting to walk back inside the tent. Johanna grabbed her arm with striking strength and pulled her back.

"Don't you dare run away. That's why I'm out here yelling at you."

"I'm not running away from anything," Katniss grumbled, rubbing her arms. Suddenly, she missed being in the tent with all of the sweaty people who were dancing around her.

"You're running away from Peeta. We all know that he is trying to dance with you, and you keep turning him down. Everything he has done has been to make you happy, and now all he wants to do is dance with his wife, and you're too selfish to let him have that pleasure."

It was like a kick in the gut or being slapped in the face. Like being stung by a tracker jacker or being chased by a Career. She knew Johanna was right. "Is that that only reason you're yelling at me? It seems like a pretty stupid reason in my opinion."

"No it's not. Because if I don't solve this now, then you're going to be running away from everything for the rest of your life, including Peeta. And then you'll get divorced or something, and I'm your friend and I don't want to see you go through something like that. I'm trying to help you, so something bad doesn't happen."

"I think you're overreacting," sighed Katniss.

"I don't care if I am. Now you listen to me. You are going to go back inside, and go to Peeta, and if he asks you to go dance, then you are going to get your little ass out there and dance with him like the room is burning and it's the last time you'll ever be together."

"So you just came out here to yell at me for not wanting to dance?" Johanna looked like she was ready to shoot Katniss, but she held up her palms. "Johanna just here me out. You're right, okay? I'll go dance with him, but that still means that you were totally overreacting over a very small subject. Just because I don't want to dance with him means we're going to have some horrible break up."

"You'd be surprised, Katniss. I just want to see the both of you happy. It might make you happy to not dance, but it would mean everything to Peeta if you did. I can see it in him. Do it for him since he does everything for you."

Katniss nodded. "You didn't have to yell to make your point though." But Katniss was smiling as she walked back inside the tent. Peeta did spoil her, and it was time she'd do something for him.

Peeta was where she had left him, standing there in his black tux and looking a little confused as she walked up to him. "What was that all about?" he asked as he clasped her waist with one hand and her hand with the other. "What did Johanna want?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

He must've decided not to push her too much, because he switched back to their previous conversation. "So, do you trust me enough for that dance now?" His blue eyes were full of hope.

"Sure," she agreed, butterflies in her stomach. He smiled widely and pulled her out.

Slowly, he rested his hand on her waist, and she reached up put her arms around his neck, one by one. She leaned forward and rested her head on his chest. He put his cheek on the top of her head and she could feel his everlasting smile.

Their feet shuffled back and forth to no real rhythm, and Katniss closed her eyes, but she could still feel the people's stares on them. She tried to block them out, but it was hard. Suddenly, Johanna was back in her head, yelling at her. She tried harder.

She thought about one thing that she had said. She imagined that the room was burning, like it had caught on fire, and that everyone else there had run away from fear. The only two people left were her and Peeta, slow dancing like neither one of them could burn, and if they could, it wouldn't matter because they were in each other's arms and that was all that mattered.

Katniss felt her head being tilted up, and when her eyes opened, it was only her and Peeta and their arms. When their lips met, the room could've caught on fire, and the Mockingjay didn't care. The Boy with the Bread was there, and she was the Girl of Fire.

Sometimes, there was no need to say 'I Love You.' There were other ways to express love, and this was one of them.

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**Reviews are loved!**

**-BBH**


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